# W.W. and the Dixie Dance Kings

**W.W. and the Dixie Dance Kings** is a 1975 American film released on May 21, 1975, distributed by 20th Century Fox and produced by Triangle Productions.<sup>[15](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55655-W.-W.-AND-THE-DIXIE-DANCEKINGS)</sup> Set in the mid-1950s South, it follows W.W. Bright, an easygoing crook who robs stations of the Southland Oil System while bribing attendants so they cannot describe him accurately to the police.<sup>[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/w-w-and-the-dixie-dance-kings)</sup> Shot in Tennessee in 1974, it was billed as the first major movie out of Nashville.<sup>[2](https://sos-tn-gov-files.tnsosfiles.com/forms/DEPARTMENT_OF_ECONOMIC_AND_COMMUNITY_DEVELOPMENT_RECORDS_1953-1984.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/w-w-and-the-dixie-dance-kings)</sup> It stars [Burt Reynolds](https://www.edgepedia.org/burt-reynolds), with [Jerry Reed](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerry-reed) making his film debut and [Art Carney](https://www.edgepedia.org/art-carney) as Deacon John Wesley Gore, a former lawman hired to catch W.W.<sup>[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/w-w-and-the-dixie-dance-kings)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[1](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/75/RW-1975-02-15.pdf)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | May 21, 1975 (U.S.), distributed by 20th Century Fox; produced by Triangle Productions<sup>[15](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55655-W.-W.-AND-THE-DIXIE-DANCEKINGS)</sup> |
| Music | Score by Dave Grusin; Jerry Reed and the band perform his composition "Friends"<sup>[1](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/75/RW-1975-02-15.pdf)</sup> |
| Filming | Shot in Tennessee in 1974, with the state economic development department helping recruit people for roles<sup>[2](https://sos-tn-gov-files.tnsosfiles.com/forms/DEPARTMENT_OF_ECONOMIC_AND_COMMUNITY_DEVELOPMENT_RECORDS_1953-1984.pdf)</sup> |

## Spoilers

### Plot

Set in the mid-1950s South, the film follows W.W. Bright, an easygoing crook who robs only stations of the Southland Oil System (SOS), bribing attendants with about 20 dollars each so they cannot describe him accurately to the police.<sup>[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/w-w-and-the-dixie-dance-kings)</sup> Fleeing a policeman, he hides at a country dance where he meets the Dixie Dancekings, a country band led by singer Dixie (Conny Van Dyke) and Wayne (Jerry Reed). Dixie gives him an alibi; W.W. claims to be in the music business and becomes the band's promoter, promising to make them stars with a new look financed by his gas station takings.<sup>[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/w-w-and-the-dixie-dance-kings)</sup>The oil company's chairman hires Deacon John Wesley Gore (Art Carney), a Bible-thumping former lawman, to catch W.W. using evangelical radio broadcasts.<sup>[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/w-w-and-the-dixie-dance-kings)</sup> W.W. talks the band into robbing a bank after SOS expands into banking, and when Gore broadcasts the getaway car's description, W.W. burns his rare car, a black and gold Golden Anniversary Oldsmobile from a limited edition of 50.<sup>[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/w-w-and-the-dixie-dance-kings)</sup> Ready to leave the band to shield them, he hears them rehearsing Wayne's new song and persuades country star Country Bull Jenkins ([Ned Beatty](https://www.edgepedia.org/ned-beatty)) to listen; Jenkins puts them on the [Grand Ole Opry](https://www.edgepedia.org/grand-ole-opry) radio show. There Gore traps W.W. with an exact replica of the burnt car, but on arriving at the police station he realizes it is Sunday and, rather than violate the Sabbath, lets W.W. go with the car.<sup>[16](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/55655)</sup>

## Production

The film was shot in Tennessee in 1974. The state Department of Economic and Community Development assisted by recruiting people for roles, and its records preserve correspondence, informational sheets, and photographs of applicants, though not which applicants were chosen.<sup>[2](https://sos-tn-gov-files.tnsosfiles.com/forms/DEPARTMENT_OF_ECONOMIC_AND_COMMUNITY_DEVELOPMENT_RECORDS_1953-1984.pdf)</sup> Locations included Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, where the band's Grand Ole Opry performance foils W.W.'s bank-robbing plans.<sup>[4](https://www.ryman.com/story/7-movies-filmed-at-ryman-auditorium)</sup> Burt Reynolds also filmed a scene at Dismas House, a Nashville community residence founded in 1974 on Music Row.<sup>[5](https://dismas.org/stories/three-miles-away-and-50-years-back-in-time-revisiting-the-original-dismas-house-1974-2020/)</sup> In Brentwood, Tennessee, the original Concord General Store at Concord Road and Wilson Pike was blown up for a scene; a replacement store stood on the site until the late 1990s.<sup>[6](https://www.brentwoodtn.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/cr/documents/newsletter/spring-2009.pdf)</sup>

**Casting and music.** Jerry Reed, a Georgia-born singer, composer, and guitarist recorded by RCA, made his film debut in the picture, playing Wayne, leader of the naive country band that falls under W.W.'s tutelage; Reed and the Dancekings sing his composition "Friends", also his newest single.<sup>[1](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/75/RW-1975-02-15.pdf)</sup> Conny Van Dyke, co-star of two major movies filmed in Nashville in 1974, this one and *Framed*, was promoted by her label Dot Records as a prospective female superstar on the strength of the exposure.<sup>[7](https://retrocdn.net/images/8/8d/CashBox_US_1974-10-19.pdf)</sup> The bluesman Furry Lewis earned his part in the film through his music, and Ned Beatty plays a country superstar of an image-conscious, [Porter Wagoner](https://www.edgepedia.org/porter-wagoner) type.<sup>[8](https://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=4871)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[9](https://www.zeusdvds.com/w-w-and-the-dixie-dancekings-1975-dvd/)</sup> Director Avildsen wanted [Bill Conti](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-conti) to compose the score, but the studio declined because it had never heard of him; Conti instead scored Avildsen's next film, *Rocky*.<sup>[10](https://www.phillymag.com/2014/03/13/john-g-avildsen-sylvester-stallone-rocky-qanda/)</sup>

**Budget dispute.** Avildsen, who preferred small-budget productions after *Joe* (1970) and *Save the Tiger* (1973), reportedly took what [Turner Classic Movies](https://www.edgepedia.org/turner-classic-movies) calls the unprecedented step of trying to cut the budget on this film, a move that alienated its star, Burt Reynolds.<sup>[11](https://www.tcm.com/articles/19519/behind-the-camera-rocky)</sup>

## Reception

Roger Ebert of the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) gave the film two stars out of four in a review dated January 1, 1975. He found it "not really a bad movie" but not very interesting, faulting Avildsen for reaching for mythic meaning the film could not hold, particularly in the Carney character, which he felt nearly turned the movie into a symbolic fantasy; he thought it would have been more successful staying at street level with W.W. and the band.<sup>[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/w-w-and-the-dixie-dance-kings)</sup> Vincent Canby of The New York Times enjoyed it, calling it "an unexpectedly pleasant surprise" and praising the casual way it seems to discover its story and the casting of its supporting roles.<sup>[17](https://www.nytimes.com/1975/07/24/archives/wwis-pleasant-summer-surprise.html)</sup>

**Commercial performance.** The film earned North American rentals of $8 million and was one of the studio's biggest films of the year. Reynolds later said the film "turned out wrong but it made a lot of money," while also calling it one of his favorite movies and, in a Country Music interview, "the first film that showed any sensitivity to Nashville."<sup>[12](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Country-Music/80s/Country-Music-1981-07-08.pdf)</sup>

## Nashville context

Publicity billed the film as the first major movie out of [Nashville](https://www.edgepedia.org/nashville-film), meaning it was shot before [Robert Altman](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-altman)'s *Nashville* but released after it.<sup>[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/w-w-and-the-dixie-dance-kings)</sup> The Country Music Association announced its involvement in promoting the film's Nashville premiere in early 1975.<sup>[13](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1975/BB-1975-01-25.pdf)</sup> Film historians later grouped it with the mid-1970s "redneck" cycle of films centered on Southern life and style, and it stands among the Reynolds vehicles that regularly put the redneck film on the box-office charts, alongside *Deliverance*, *White Lightning*, *Smokey and the Bandit*, and *The Longest Yard*.<sup>[14](https://www.screeningthepast.com/issue-28-classics-re-runs/%E2%80%9Cwhat%E2%80%99s-your-10-20%E2%80%9D-redneck-movie-travel-notes/)</sup>

## References

1. [J. Reed Film Debut, Record World, February 15, 1975](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/75/RW-1975-02-15.pdf)
2. [State of Tennessee, Department of Economic and Community Development Records 1953–1984](https://sos-tn-gov-files.tnsosfiles.com/forms/DEPARTMENT_OF_ECONOMIC_AND_COMMUNITY_DEVELOPMENT_RECORDS_1953-1984.pdf)
3. [W.W. and the Dixie Dance Kings movie review, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, January 1, 1975](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/w-w-and-the-dixie-dance-kings)
4. [7 Movies Filmed at Ryman Auditorium, Ryman Auditorium](https://www.ryman.com/story/7-movies-filmed-at-ryman-auditorium)
5. [Three Miles Away, and 50 Years Back in Time: Revisiting the Original Dismas House, 1974–2020, Dismas](https://dismas.org/stories/three-miles-away-and-50-years-back-in-time-revisiting-the-original-dismas-house-1974-2020/)
6. [Brentwood, Tennessee city newsletter, Spring 2009](https://www.brentwoodtn.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/cr/documents/newsletter/spring-2009.pdf)
7. [Cash Box, October 19, 1974](https://retrocdn.net/images/8/8d/CashBox_US_1974-10-19.pdf)
8. ['Furry' Lewis dead, famed blues player, Bangor Daily News, September 15, 1981, Joni Mitchell Library](https://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=4871)
9. [W. W. And The Dixie Dancekings (1975) DVD, Zeus DVDs](https://www.zeusdvds.com/w-w-and-the-dixie-dancekings-1975-dvd/)
10. [Director John G. Avildsen Q&A, Philadelphia Magazine, 2014](https://www.phillymag.com/2014/03/13/john-g-avildsen-sylvester-stallone-rocky-qanda/)
11. [Behind the Camera (Rocky), Turner Classic Movies, by Rob Nixon, February 9, 2009](https://www.tcm.com/articles/19519/behind-the-camera-rocky)
12. [Country Music interview with Burt Reynolds, July 8, 1981](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Country-Music/80s/Country-Music-1981-07-08.pdf)
13. [Billboard, January 25, 1975](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1975/BB-1975-01-25.pdf)
14. ["What's Your 10-20?" Redneck Movie Travel Notes, Screening the Past](https://www.screeningthepast.com/issue-28-classics-re-runs/%E2%80%9Cwhat%E2%80%99s-your-10-20%E2%80%9D-redneck-movie-travel-notes/)
15. [W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55655-W.-W.-AND-THE-DIXIE-DANCEKINGS)
16. [W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/55655)
17. [W.W.'Is Pleasant Summer Surprise, The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/1975/07/24/archives/wwis-pleasant-summer-surprise.html)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1970s › Released 1970 to 1976*

*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

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